SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Another great week of Summit League women’s soccer was on full display this past week. With only three weeks left in the regular season, eyes start to look toward the 2026 Summit League Women’s Soccer Championship.
This year, the Summit League introduces a new seeding format as all eight programs are put into two different pods. Pod A is composed of North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State while Pod B includes Kansas City, Omaha, Oral Roberts and St. Thomas. The Championship shall be a six-team, single-elimination tournament held over two weekends. The top three teams in each pod will automatically qualify, with the runner-up from each pod hosting the quarterfinals against the opposite pod’s third-place team. The semifinals and championship will be hosted by the higher overall regular-season point total winner and designated No. 1 overall seed. Please make sure to check out our Championship page for more information once the bracket is set!
In the latest United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer West Region rankings, Oral Roberts is No. 3 with South Dakota State coming in at No. 10.
In the latest NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer RPI rankings, two Summit League programs rank in the top 150. Oral Roberts comes in at No. 96 while South Dakota State is No. 144.
The Summit League continues to rank highly among all NCAA Division I conferences, being third in goals allowed (127) and third in save percentage (0.778).
South Dakota State continues to rank highly in multiple stats across the country in Division I. The Jackrabbits are second in the nation in assists per game (3.69), eighth in goal differential (24), sixth in points per game (9.08), tied for 10th in goals per game (2.69), third in total assists (48), 12th in total goals (35) and fifth in total points (118).
Jackrabbits’ Mia Bosch is 27th in the country in assists per game (0.54) and 15th in total assists (7).
Oral Roberts across Division I is tied for 11th in goal differential (23), tied for 19th in goals-against average (0.571) and 31st in total goals (31). Golden Eagles’ Cameron Silva is 19th in the nation in assists per game (0.57) and seventh in total assists (8). Goalkeeper Alyson Sebban is 22nd in goals-against average (0.560) and 28th in total shutouts (6). Brianna Castleberry across Division I is 19th in goals per game (0.79), 24th in points per game (1.79), 10th in total goals (11) and 12th in total points (25).
Kansas City’s 6.08 saves per game are 28th in the country. Goalkeeper Anika Patton is 20th in the country in saves per game (5.92) and 21st in total saves (71).
Omaha’s Cadence Fagan is also 28th in the nation in shutouts (6).
To start off Thursday’s action, the Summit League saw its first of four draws of the week. North Dakota hosted Omaha to a scoreless draw, with Cadence Fagan picking up a three-save shutout and Thale Ruether tallying the one save clean sheet.
Fagan would not stop there with the shutouts on the week, as the senior goalkeeper helped force another scoreless draw for the Mavericks on the road, this time with North Dakota State. Fagan tallied 10 saves across both shutouts, good enough to earn her a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer Women’s Team of the Week. Fagan now owns six shutouts on the year, tied for the top spot in the Summit League and has collected one in three consecutive games.
Bison goalkeeper Payton Mulberry had three saves for her fifth clean sheet of the season in the tie to Omaha.
In North Dakota State’s match on Thursday, St. Thomas was victorious on the road against the Bison in a 2-1 match for the Tommies’ first Summit League win of the season. St. Thomas started the scoring, with Izzy McEwan scoring in the 20th minute off an assist from Kalli Knowles. NDSU answered 10 minutes later from a Hannah Arnold corner kick. The Tommies answered right back in the 32nd minute with a goal by Kalli Knowles for the 2-1 victory.
Knowles carried her heroics into the second game of the week, scoring both goals in the Tommies’ second road victory of the week against North Dakota, 2-1. The Fighting Hawks’ Cora Ellermann scored early in the 11th minute, shifting through the defense to take the early 1-0 lead. In the 31st minute, Knowles equalized the score to make it 1-1 heading into half. The second half saw lots of back-and-forth action until in the 87th minute, Kalli Knowles gave St. Thomas the lead and victory. The freshman hit the back of the net three times and dished out an assist for seven total points on the week.
In the highest-scoring match on the week, South Dakota hosted Kansas City to a 2-2 draw. Each team scored both goals in separate halves, with Kansas City scoring twice in the first thanks to Brooklyn Lupinacci and Abigail Chaddock, while South Dakota’s two goals in the second half were scored by Kinsley Pesicka and Brooklynn Pollmiller. Roos goalkeeper Annika Patton added to her League-leading saves with nine saves in the game. Coyotes’ goalkeeper Cambell Fischer tallied three saves in the effort.
USD drew another draw in its second game of the week, hosting Oral Roberts to a big 1-1 draw. The Golden Eagles carried the 1-0 advantage heading into the second half thanks to an Addy Johnson goal in the 38th minute. Most of the second half went scoreless before the Coyotes answered in the 85th minute of a Mali Van Meeteren header off a free kick to equalize the score. Fischer collected four saves on the day while ORU’s Alyson Sebban tallied two saves.
For Kansas City’s second game of the week, the team traveled to South Dakota State in a match that saw three different Jackrabbits score in the second half for a 3-0 victory. Katelyn Beulke broke the defensive deadlock in the 54th minute before Jenna Maloy extended the lead to two in the 62nd minute. SDSU’s Peyton Held scored the third and final goal of the game in the 88th minute. South Dakota State goalkeeper Mallorie Benhart also tallied three saves in the shutout victory, bringing her career saves to 261 which is good for 11th among all active NCAA Division I players. She is also tied for 26th in career shutouts (19).
On Thursday, South Dakota State hosted Oral Roberts in a rematch of the last two Summit League championship matchups. SDSU started the scoring early, with Katelyn Beulke hitting the back of the net in the 10th minute for the 1-0 lead. For most of the rest of the match it was back-and-forth scoreless action, until Oral Roberts’ Cameron Silva leveled the score in the 73rd minute. ORU scored its second unanswered goal in the 85th minute to take the 2-1 lead as Layney Molini scored the game-winner from the deep corner. Golden Eagles goalkeeper Alyson Sebban made three saves while Jackrabbits’ Mallorie Benhart collected five saves.
After an intense week of cross-pod action last week, Pod A and Pod B flip who hosts for the final week of cross-pod matches of the regular season. St. Thomas hosts South Dakota State on Thursday then South Dakota on Sunday. Kansas City will see North Dakota come to Missouri and then North Dakota State on Sunday. South Dakota travels to Omaha on Thursday before the Mavericks host South Dakota State on Sunday. Oral Roberts is set to welcome North Dakota State on Thursday and North Dakota on Sunday.
All home matches can be found on the Summit League Network.
This Week In The Summit League (All Times in Central Time)
Thursday, Oct. 15 | TV/Stream | Time
South Dakota State at St. Thomas | SLN | 3 p.m.
North Dakota at Kansas City | SLN | 6 p.m.
South Dakota at Omaha | SLN | 7 p.m.
North Dakota State at Oral Roberts | 7 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 18 | TV/Stream | Time
North Dakota at Oral Roberts | SLN | 1 p.m.
South Dakota at St. Thomas | SLN | 1 p.m.
South Dakota State at Omaha | SLN | 1 p.m.
North Dakota State at Kansas City | SLN 1 p.m.
All Times Local in Central Time
Key: SLN (Summit League Network)
Around The League
• In the latest United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer West Region rankings, Oral Roberts is No. 3 with South Dakota State coming in at No. 10.
• In the latest NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer RPI rankings, two Summit League programs rank within the top 150. Oral Roberts comes in at No. 96 while South Dakota State is No. 144.
• The Summit League continues to rank highly among all NCAA Division I conferences, being third in goals allowed (127) and third in save percentage (0.778).
• South Dakota State goalkeeper Mallorie Benhart also tallied three saves in the shutout victory, bringing her career saves to 261 which is good for 11th among all active NCAA Division I players. She is also tied for 26th in career shutouts (19).
• South Dakota State continues to rank highly in multiple stats across the country in Division I. The Jackrabbits are second in the nation in assists per game (3.69), eighth in goal differential (24), sixth in points per game (9.08), tied for 10th in goals per game (2.69), third in total assists (48), 12th in total goals (35) and fifth in total points (118).
• Jackrabbits’ Mia Bosch is 27th in the country in assists per game (0.54) and 15th in total assists (7).
• Oral Roberts across Division I is tied for 11th in goal differential (23), tied for 19th in goals-against average (0.571) and 31st in total goals (31). Golden Eagles’ Cameron Silva is 19th in the nation in assists per game (0.57) and seventh in total assists (8). Goalkeeper Alyson Sebban is 22nd in goals-against average (0.560) and 28th in total shutouts (6). Brianna Castleberry across Division I is 19th in goals per game (0.79), 24th in points per game (1.79), 10th in total goals (11) and 12th in total points (25).
• Kansas City’s 6.08 saves per game are 28th in the country. Goalkeeper Anika Patton is 20th in the country in saves per game (5.92) and 21st in total saves (71).
• Omaha’s Cadence Fagan is also 28th in the nation in shutouts (6) and was named on the Top Drawer Soccer Women’s Team of the Week after two clean sheets and 10 saves on the week.
• St. Thomas won its first two Summit League matches of the year, beating North Dakota State and North Dakota both 2-1. Kalli Knowles either scored or assisted on all four goals, scoring three and dishing out an assist for seven points on the week. She also scored the game-winning goal in each game, with the goal against UND coming in the 87th minute.
• South Dakota earned two big draws after clawing its way back into both. Against Kansas City on Thursday, the Coyotes scored two goals in the second half to force the 2-2 draw. On Sunday, USD scored its lone goal of the match in the 85th minute to force the 1-1 tie against Oral Roberts.
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